Personalized medical monitoring and notifications therefor

ABSTRACT

Improved methods and systems for personal medical monitoring are disclosed. The monitoring yields status information pertaining to persons being monitored. Notifications, recommendations and/or actions can be initiated by examination or analysis of the status information. The status information can include health, position (location) and other information.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/306,150, filed Jun. 16, 2014, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORPERSONALIZED MEDICAL MONITORING AND NOTIFICATIONS THEREFOR,” which isincorporated herein by reference, which in turn is a divisionalapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/047,737, filed Mar.14, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,753,273, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR PERSONALIZED MEDICAL MONITORING AND NOTIFICATIONS THEREFOR,” whichis incorporated herein by reference, which in turn is a divisionalapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/397,641, filed Mar.26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,832, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR PERSONALIZED MEDICAL MONITORING AND NOTIFICATIONS THEREFOR,” whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference; which in turn claimspriority benefit of: (i) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/444,198, filed Jan. 30, 2003, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING, MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGINGAND USING STATUS INFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein byreference; (ii) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/418,491,filed Oct. 15, 2002, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FORACQUIRING, PRESENTING, MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGING AND USING STATUSINFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; (iii)U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/404,645, filed Aug. 19, 2002,and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING,MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGING AND USING POSITION AND OTHERINFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; and (iv)U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/375,998, filed Apr. 24, 2002,and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING,MANAGING AND USING POSITION INFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to: (i) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/397,473, filed Mar. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,941, andentitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTELLIGENT ACQUISITION OF POSITIONINFORMATION;” (ii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/397,472, filedMar. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,938, and entitled “METHODS ANDAPPARATUS TO ANALYZE AND PRESENT LOCATION INFORMATION;” (iii) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/397,637, filed Mar. 26, 2003, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,212,829, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDINGSHIPMENT TRACKING AND NOTIFICATIONS;” (iv) U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/397,640, filed Mar. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,321,774, andentitled “INEXPENSIVE POSITION SENSING DEVICE;” (v) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/397,474, filed Mar. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No.7,403,972, and entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCED MESSAGING;” (vi)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/397,512, filed Mar. 26, 2003, andentitled “APPLICATIONS OF STATUS INFORMATION FOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to medical condition monitoring and, moreparticularly, to remote monitoring of medical conditions and locationsof persons.

2. Description of the Related Art

Medical conditions are often monitored for patients while admitted at ahospital or while at a doctor's office. The monitoring can assist adoctor or other medical professional in diagnosis or treatment of apatient. Typically, a specialized monitoring machine would be placednearby the patient and then one or more sensors would be affixed to thepatient. Periodically, a doctor or other medical professional would viewthe data output by the specialized monitoring machine. Some medicalmonitoring devices are portable. These portable devices permit thepatient's health to be monitored over an extended period of time. Adoctor or other medical professional would view the data gathered at thenext visit of the patient to a hospital or doctor's office. However,typically, these medical devices, whether stationary or portable, arespecial purpose devices that require professionals or trainedtechnicians to setup and use. It is unfortunate that the use of suchmedical devices to monitor patients outside of a hospital or doctor'soffice requires professional assistance and expensive equipment. Thesedisadvantages make it impractical for widespread use of medicalmonitoring systems.

Thus, there is a need for improved methods and systems to facilitatepersonal medical monitoring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Broadly speaking, the invention relates to improved methods and systemsfor personal medical monitoring. The monitoring yields statusinformation pertaining to persons being monitored. Notifications,recommendations and/or actions can be initiated by examination oranalysis of the status information.

One aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systems formonitoring status information, including health conditions, of persons.Another aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systems forproviding notifications to one or more persons. The notifications cancontain status information pertaining to the person being monitored.Still another aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systemsfor inducing an action for or on a person based on the statusinformation of the person. Yet still another aspect of the inventionpertains to methods and systems that use a web server for remote accessto monitor the status of persons being monitored and/or for facilitatingconfiguration of notifications, recommendations and/or actions to beprovided. Hence, interested parties can gain access to statusinformation pertaining to the persons being monitored via a website or,more generally, a data network (e.g., the Internet).

According to one embodiment, the status information can include health,position (location) and other information. One example of otherinformation is environmental conditions.

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways including, a method,system, device, graphical user interface, and a computer readablemedium. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.

As a health monitoring system, one embodiment of the invention includesat least: a plurality of medical monitoring devices affixed to personsto be monitored, the medical monitoring devices producing locationinformation and health condition information; and a monitoring serveroperatively connected to the medical monitoring devices via a firstnetwork, the monitoring server receiving and storing the locationinformation and the health condition information from the medicalmonitoring devices. The first network includes at least a wired networkand a wireless network.

As a method for monitoring status of a person, one embodiment of theinvention includes at least the acts of: acquiring status information ofthe person being monitored, the status information including at leasthealth information of the person; obtaining threshold conditions to beapplied; determining whether an action condition exists by comparing thehealth information with the threshold conditions; and initiating anaction when the determining determines that the action condition exists.

As a method for monitoring status of a person, another embodiment of theinvention includes at least the acts of: receiving status information ofa person being monitored, the status information being provided by astatus-aware mobile device affixed to the person, the status informationincluding at least a location of the status-aware mobile device affixedto the person and a health condition of the person; determining whethera notification should be provided to the person based on at least thehealth condition of the person; generating a notification message basedon the location and the health condition when the determining determinesthat a notification should be provided; and providing the notificationmessage to the person.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a health monitoring system according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a medical monitoring device according toone embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a medical monitoring device according toanother embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an automated health processing according toone embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5A-5G are exemplary records of a database according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of personal notification processing accordingto one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of remote notification processing according toone embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of notification and physical responseprocessing according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of requested notification processing accordingto one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of email status processing according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an object monitoring system according toone embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to improved methods and systems for personalmedical monitoring. The monitoring yields status information pertainingto persons being monitored. Notifications, recommendations and/oractions can be initiated by examination or analysis of the statusinformation.

One aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systems formonitoring status information, including health conditions, of persons.Another aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systems forproviding notifications to one or more persons. The notifications cancontain status information pertaining to the person being monitored.Still another aspect of the invention pertains to methods and systemsfor inducing an action for or on a person based on the statusinformation of the person. Yet still another aspect of the inventionpertains to methods and systems that use a web server for remote accessto monitor the status of persons being monitored and/or for facilitatingconfiguration of notifications, recommendations and/or actions to beprovided. Hence, interested parties can gain access to statusinformation pertaining to the persons being monitored via a website or,more generally, a data network (e.g., the Internet).

According to one embodiment, the status information can include health,position (location) and other information. One example of otherinformation is environmental conditions.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.However, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that theinvention may be practiced without these specific details. Thedescription and representation herein are the common meanings used bythose experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuitryhave not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuringaspects of the present invention.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutuallyexclusive of other embodiments. Further, the order of blocks in processflowcharts or diagrams representing one or more embodiments of theinvention do not inherently indicate any particular order nor imply anylimitations in the invention.

Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-11. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these figures is forexplanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limitedembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a health monitoring system 100 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The health monitoring system 100 operates to monitorhealth conditions or status of one or more persons. Each person havingtheir status (e.g., health) monitored by the health monitoring system100 has affixed thereto a medical monitoring device (MMD) 102. Themedical monitoring devices 102 can be affixed to the person in a varietyof ways, such as carried by the person (including carried by theperson's clothing), worn by the person, located under the skin orinternal to the person (i.e., in vitro or invasive to the person), etc.Examples of ways to wear such a medical monitoring device include insidea pocket of a clothing the person wears or right on the person (e.g., apiece of jewelry, watch or patch worn by the person). The medicalmonitoring devices 102 and 104 are described in more detail below butgenerally include medical sensors and communication capabilities. Themedical monitoring devices 102 and 104 are coupled to a wireless network106. In one embodiment, the wireless network 106 is a data network. Forexample, the data network can be a Short Message Service (SMS) network,a cellular network, a local wireless network (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) orother wireless network. The wireless network 106 also couples to anetwork 108. In one embodiment, the network 108 includes at least aportion of the Internet (i.e., a global computer network). In anotherembodiment, the network 108 is a local area network or a wide areanetwork. In general, the network 108 can be a wired network, a wirelessnetwork or both.

A monitoring server 110 can couple to the network 108. The monitoringserver 110 can store status information (e.g., medical conditions)associated with the various persons having their status (e.g., health)being monitored by the medical monitoring devices 102 and 104.Typically, the monitoring server 110 would couple to a monitoringdatabase 112 that stores the status information pertaining to thevarious users (persons). In this regard, the medical monitoring devices102 and 104 communicate through the wireless network 106 over wirelesslinks and can then communicate through the wireless network 106 with themonitoring server 110 via the network 108.

Additionally, an interested party 114 may also wish to interact orcommunicate with the medical monitoring devices 102 and 104 or themonitoring server 110. The interested party 114 is shown as beingcoupled to the network 108. Alternatively, an interested party 116 canalso couple directly to the wireless network 106 such that theinterested party 116 is able to communicate in a wireless manner eitherwith the medical monitoring devices 102 and 104 or with the monitoringserver 110 via the wireless network 106 (or some other wireless network)that couples to the network 108. Still further, an interested party 118may also be interested in monitoring or receiving the status informationpertaining to the persons having their status monitored. In oneembodiment, any of the interested party 114, the interested party 116and/or the interested party 118 can interact with the monitoring server110 to access the status information pertaining to the persons havingtheir status (e.g., health) monitored. In another embodiment, any of theinterested party 114, the interested party 116 or the interested party118 can interact with the monitoring server 110 to configure type,frequency and/or conditions that are to cause actions (e.g.,notifications) to the interested party.

The health monitoring system 100 shown is FIG. 1 is a representativeembodiment. Other embodiments of health monitoring systems can alsosupport many medical monitoring devices, zero or more third-parties,zero or more interested parties, and zero or more monitoring servers.Also, in general, health monitoring systems can by peer-to-peer orcentralized, or both. Peer-to-peer can involve status information beingtransmitted between medical monitoring devices, whereas centralized caninvolve status information being provided to a central server (e.g.,monitoring server 110) and then accessible obtained from the centralserver.

Medical monitoring devices detect status information pertaining topersons, which can include health conditions. FIGS. 2 and 3 areembodiments of two representative medical monitoring devices. Additionaldetails on medical monitoring devices can be found in U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/418,491, filed Oct. 15, 2002, and entitled“SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING, MONITORING,DELIVERING, MANAGING AND USING STATUS INFORMATION,” which is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a medical monitoring device 200 accordingto one embodiment of the invention. The medical monitoring device 200is, for example, suitable for use as the medical monitoring device 102or 104 illustrated in FIG. 1. The medical monitoring device 200 includesa sensor device 202, a GPS device 204, and a communication device 206.The medical monitoring device 200 is designed such that the sensordevice 202 and the GPS device 204 are able to communicate with thecommunication device 206 in a wireless manner. The communication device206 is then able to communicate with a wireless network (e.g., thewireless network 106) in a wireless manner. In one embodiment, themedical monitoring device 200 is worn by a person. One or more of thesensor device 202, the GPS device 204 and the communication device 206can be provided separately. Separate devices permit flexible positioningof the devices on the person and also permit devices to beinterchangeable. In one embodiment, the separate devices are eachwearable by the person and communicate with one another in a wirelessmanner.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a medical monitoring device 300 accordingto another embodiment of the invention. The medical monitoring device300 has an integrated design that is typically implemented as a singlepackage. The medical monitoring device 300 can include a plurality ofsensors 302, 304 and 306 that couple to a controller 308. The controller308 can process the sensor data to the extent desired. In addition, aGPS receiver 310 can receive location data from GPS satellites andprovide such location data to the controller 308. The controller 308further controls the information about the sensor data and the locationdata that is communicated to the person, an interested party, or amonitoring server. When communication over a wireless link is needed,the controller 308 interacts with a communication module 312 to achievethe appropriate wireless communication.

The components can also be combined or integrated on a common integratedcircuit chip to permit or facilitate sharing of some circuitry withother components or devices. For example, circuitry can be sharedamongst the GPS receiver 310 and the communication module 312. Asanother example, circuitry can be shared amongst the sensors 302, 304and 306. In any case, the sensors 302, 304 and 306 may couple to theperson being monitored. In one embodiment, the medical monitoring device300 is small and lightweight and thus easily wearable.

In one example, a medical monitoring device can be a mobile telephonehaving communication circuitry, a GPS receiver and one or more medicalsensors. The sensors can be internal or external to the mobiletelephone. In the case of external sensors, the sensors can couple tothe mobile telephone through a wire or cable or through wireless means(e.g., Bluetooth or Wi-Fi).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of automated health processing 400 according toone embodiment of the invention. The automated health processing 400initially receives 402 location information and health information(medical conditions) for a person. The location information and thehealth information for the person are provided by a medical monitoringdevice. The medical monitoring device can also obtain other sensor data,such as temperature, velocity, acceleration, etc. The healthinformation, the location information and the other sensor data can begenerally considered status information.

Next, an activity of the person is determined 404. In oneimplementation, the activity of the person can be determined 404 basedon location information and/or the other sensor data. For example, inone example, the activity of the person is distinguished betweensleeping, walking, running, driving, etc. based upon velocity ofmovement of the person determined from a plurality of locationinformation and/or particular sensor data. Next, threshold conditionsfor actions are retrieved 406 based on the activity. Note that thethreshold conditions for actions can differ depending upon the activityof the person. For example, if the person is exercising, then it isexpected that there should be different threshold conditions withrespect to certain medical conditions, as compared to thresholdconditions for use when the person is sleeping. Next, the healthinformation is compared 408 with the threshold conditions.

A decision 410 then determines whether an action should be performedbased on the result of the comparison 408. When the decision 410determines that an action should be performed, then one or more actionsare initiated 412.

The actions that can be performed 412 can vary with application. In oneembodiment, the actions can include a notification or a treatment. Anotification can be a message or an alert. The notifications can use anycombination of text, image, audio, video or tactile action to presentthe notification to a user (e.g., person or interested party). In oneembodiment, the notification can provide the user with information aboutlocation information and/or health information of the person. In anotherembodiment, the notification can provide instructions or guidance forthe user. For example, the instructions or guidance can direct theperson to a hospital or pharmacy and optionally also provide navigationdirections. As another example, the instructions or guidance canrecommend the user do certain thing to help his health condition, suchas rest, take certain medicine, visit doctor, etc.

A treatment can be automatically performed on the person. In oneembodiment, the medical monitoring device controls a treatment inducedon the person. As examples, the treatment can automatically cause aninjection of a substance to the person, release of a chemical (e.g.,medicine) to the person, etc. In one embodiment, the notification and/ortreatment can be dependent on one or more of the person's healthconditions, the person's location, the person's activity, or theperson's previous status information (e.g., health history).

Alternatively, when the decision 410 determines that no action is to beperformed, then the operation 412 is bypassed. After the operation 412,or its being bypassed, the automatic health monitoring 400 is completeand ends.

The health and location information acquired by a medical monitoringdevice can be stored to a database, such as the monitoring database 112illustrated in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the database could reside within amedical monitoring device or be provided elsewhere within the healthmonitoring system 100.

In one embodiment, each person being monitored by a medical monitoringdevice would have a User Identifier (UI), which can be known as a GlobalUser Identifier (GUID). In one embodiment, the GUID can be used to linktogether various records within the database. For example, according toone embodiment, the records associated with a person that are stored ina database can include a location record 500 illustrated in FIG. 5A, ahealth record 510 illustrated in FIG. 5B, an action record 520 asillustrated in FIG. 5C, a notify record 530 as shown in FIG. 5D, analert record 540 as shown in FIG. 5E, a guidance record 550 as shown inFIG. 5F, and a 911 record 560 as shown in FIG. 5G. The data presented inthese records is merely for illustrative purposes.

The location record 500 shown in FIG. 5A can include a history oflocation information for the person. The location information caninclude a label for the location, as well as longitude and latitude data(i.e., position data) therefore. The location record 500 can alsoindicate time and date when the person was at the correspondinglocations.

The health record 510 shown in FIG. 5B can include a history of healthinformation, such as blood pressure (BP), heart beat (HB), andtemperature (Temp.), and breathing rate per minute (BR). The healthrecord 510 may also include duration information indicating anapproximate duration (e.g., in seconds) during which the healthconditions were essentially the same.

The action record 520 shown in FIG. 5C indicates the types of actionsthat are to be enabled. The enabled actions can then be triggered basedon the health and location information retrieved from a medicalmonitoring device and the corresponding threshold conditions. Forexample, in one embodiment, the actions available for initiation orperformance by a health monitoring system might include a notification,an alert, guidance or a 911 emergency call. A user, such as a systemadministrator or interested party, would be able to select or configurethe actions to be performed for a given person being monitored.

When a notify action is to be performed, the database can include thenotify record 530. The notify record 530 shown in FIG. 5D is arepresentative notification record which can contain thresholdconditions for medical conditions to trigger notifications. Further, asshown in FIG. 5D, different sets of threshold conditions can be provideddependent upon the type of activity (e.g., general, exercising,sleeping) performed, or determined (estimated) to be performed, by theperson being monitored. Typically, the notifications are to one or moreinterested parties. One example of a notification is an electronic mailmessage that contains medical condition information pertaining to theperson being monitored.

The alert record 540 shown in FIG. 5E determines the thresholdconditions associated with providing an alert to the person having theirhealth and location being monitored. The alert record 540 shown in FIG.5E is a representative alert record which can contain threshold medicalconditions to trigger alerts. Different sets of threshold conditions canbe provided dependent upon the type of activity performed or determined(estimated) to be performed by the person being monitored.

The guidance record 550 shown in FIG. 5F provides threshold medicalconditions associated with triggering a guidance action. The guidancethresholds may be the same as the alert thresholds shown in FIG. 5E.However, the actions can be quite different. For example, an alertaction can be a series of loud beeps. However, a guidance action istypically more involved. A guidance action can involve presenting one ormore recommendations. The guidance action can be presented to the personby audio, graphical and/or textual means. Since the location of theperson is known, the guidance can be guiding the person to a nearbypharmacy to buy a certain medicine, or to a nearby hospital to have acertain medical examination performed. Again, different thresholdconditions can be provided for different activities that the personbeing monitored is undergoing, or for different prior medical conditionsof the person.

In FIG. 5G, the 911 record 560 indicates the emergency thresholdconditions for medical conditions that are used to trigger an automated911 call. The 911 call can be an automated telephone call to a hospital,emergency response unit, (e.g., ambulance), health care provider,doctor, close relative and the like.

To trigger an action, at least one of the multiple threshold valuesprovided in the records shown in FIGS. 5D-5G, would normally have beenexceeded. In general, one or more of the thresholds can be required tobe exceeded before the corresponding action is triggered.

In yet another embodiment, different threshold conditions can be set orcustomized based on a piece of demographic information related to theperson, such as the person's ethnicity, age, gender or lifestyle. Thedemographic information can also include where the person resides or ispresently located. For example, if the person resides or is presentlylocated in the middle of the Sahara Desert or in the North Pole, one ormore of the threshold conditions can be different.

In still another embodiment, threshold conditions can also depend on theperson's prior medical conditions. More generally, different people canhave same or different threshold conditions.

Although not discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5G, an action caninclude a treatment. In one embodiment, there is an additional record inthe database related to the treatment performed on the person. Therecord can include the time, the type, and the amount of treatmentadministered to the person.

Still further, the database can include various other records. Forexample, the database could include a record that stores the status of aperson when an action is initiated. As another example, a record couldstore the status of a person during a treatment. Still another recordcould archive the status of the person and actions taken.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of personal notification processing 600according to one embodiment of the invention. The personal notificationprocessing 600 can, for example, be performed by a medical monitoringdevice (e.g., medical monitoring device 200, 300).

The personal notification processing 600 receives 602 status informationof a person. The status information of the person can be provided by themedical monitoring device affixed to the person. A decision 604 thendetermines whether a notification is to be performed. The decision 604involves an analysis of the status information of the person. Typically,the status information includes health information and locationinformation pertaining to the person (or the medical monitoring deviceaffixed to the person). The status information might also includeenvironmental conditions (e.g., ambient temperature, humidity, etc.)associated with the location of the person (or the medical monitoringdevice). Hence, the analysis being performed determines whether theperson should be notified based on the status information. In oneembodiment, the health and/or location information of the statusinformation are compared with notification criteria (e.g., thresholdvalues). The notification criteria can, for example, be general purposeor user-specific.

The notification criteria can be set or determined in a variety ofdifferent ways. For example, the notification criteria can bedynamically determined, user-provided, or third-party provided.Typically, the determination of whether a person should be notified isbased on the status information and the notification criteria. In oneembodiment, the notification criteria is particular to the person beingmonitored. In other words, the notification criteria can be differentfor different persons. In another embodiment, the notification criteriacan additionally or alternatively depend upon the location or activitybeing performed by the person.

When the decision 604 determines that no notification is to be provided,then the personal notification processing 600 is complete and ends withno notification having been performed. On the other hand, when thedecision 604 determines that a notification is desired, then anotification message is produced 606.

The notification message can take a variety of different forms butgenerally serves to notify the person of their medical condition and/orsteps to take given their medical condition. For example, thenotification message can be a text message that is displayed on a smalldisplay of the medical monitoring device, a voice message that is playedby the medical monitoring device, or an audio sound that is played bythe medical monitoring device. After the notification message has beenproduced 606, the notification message is provided 608 to the person.Depending upon the type of notification message, the notificationmessage could be provided in a different manner. For example, a textmessage could be provided to the person by displaying the notificationmessage of a display of the medical monitoring device. Since the displayis typically small, multiple screens or scrolling may be used to displaythe notification message. A voice message type notification would beprovided to the person by the medical monitoring device playing thevoice message. Following the operation 608, the personal notificationprocessing 600 is complete and ends with one or more notificationmessages having been provided to the person. Nevertheless, the personalnotification processing 600 can continue periodically, on-demand or asthe status information is updated.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of remote notification processing 700 accordingto one embodiment of the invention. The remote notification processing700 serves to notify remotely-located interested users of the healthcondition of a person being monitored. The remote notificationprocessing 700 is, for example, performed by a medical monitoring devicealone or with assistance with a monitoring server.

The remote notification processing 700 receives 702 status informationof a person. The status information is provided by a mobile device(e.g., medical monitoring device) that is affixed to the person. Then,the remote notification processing 700 determines 704 whether anotification condition exists based on the status information andnotification criteria. The notification criteria can be set ordetermined in a variety of different ways. For example, the notificationcriteria can be dynamically determined, user-provided, or third-partyprovided. In any case, the determination of whether a notificationcondition exists typically is based on the status information and thenotification criteria. In one embodiment, the notification criteria areparticular to the person being monitored. In other words, thenotification criteria can be different for different persons. In anotherembodiment, the notification criteria can additionally or alternativelydepend upon the location or activity being performed by the person.

Thereafter, assuming a notification condition does exist, a notificationmessage is produced 706. As noted above, the notification message can beof a variety of different types, including text, voice and audio. Afterthe notification message has been produced 706, the notification messageis sent 708 to an interested user. An interested user can be anyonedesirous of receiving notification messages pertaining to the status ofthe person being monitored. Here, the notification message is sent to awireless and/or wired network to a device associated with the interesteduser. For example, when the notification message is an electronic mailmessage, the electronic mail message can be transmitted through a wiredor wireless network to a communication or computing device associatedwith the interested user. The interested user is then able to receiveand read the electronic mail message and thus being informed of thehealth condition of the person being monitored. Similarly, thenotification message might be a voice message that is transmitted to theinterested user. Regardless of the type of notification message,although not shown in FIG. 7, the remote notification processing 700could verify that the interested user is authorized to receive such anotification message before the notification message is sent 708 to theinterested user. After the notification message has been sent 708 to theinterested user, the remote notification processing 700 is complete andends. Nevertheless, the remote notification processing 700 can continueperiodically, on-demand or as the status information is updated.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of notification and physical responseprocessing 800 according to one embodiment of the invention. Thenotification and physical response processing 800 is, for example,performed by a medical monitoring device alone or with the assistance ofa monitoring server.

The notification and physical response processing 800 receives 802status information of a person. Typically, the status information of theperson is provided by a medical monitoring device (affixed or coupled tothe person). The status information that has been received 802 is thencompared 804 with notification criteria. Here, according to oneembodiment, the notification criteria can be specific to the personand/or can depend upon status information. In one embodiment, theparticular notification criteria utilized is dependent upon the personand may be further dependent on the status information (e.g., type ofstatus information). Next, a decision 806 determines whether anotification is needed. When the decision 806 determines that anotification is needed, then a notification message is produced anddelivered 808. Alternatively, when the decision 806 determines that anotification is not needed, then the operation 808 is bypassed.

Besides the notification, the notification and physical responseprocessing 800 can also induce a physical response to the person.Typically, the physical response would be induced to the person by themedical monitoring device affixed to the person. In this regard, thestatus information for the person is compared 810 with action criteria.Here, according to one embodiment, the action criteria can be specificto the person and/or can depend upon status information. The comparison810 of the status information with the action criteria can also takeinto account a history of the status information for the person.

Next, a decision 812 determines whether a physical action should beinduced. When the decision 812 determines that a physical action shouldbe induced based on the comparison 810, then a physical action isinduced 814 to the person via a device, which can be a mobile device.The type of physical action that is induced 814 can depend upon thecapabilities of the mobile device. Examples of physical actions that canbe induced 814 include introduction of insulin, drugs, and the like tothe person. The introduction may be achieved through a needle, a patch,a device fabricated by micromachining techniques, and various others.

The physical actions can, for example, administer a dosage of medicationto a person, such as performed through an actuator. This actuator can bea Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) device fabricated usingmicromachining techniques. One advantage of a MEMS device is that theamount of dosage can be minute and automated. In one embodiment, themedical monitoring device can also simultaneously sense the status ofthe person while administering a small amount of medication. The medicalmonitoring device with an actuator can introduce (e.g., inject) anaccurate amount of medication into the person. The amount introduced candepend on the medical condition as well as activity level of the person.The amount introduced can be furthered modified in view of the person'smedical history. Since the dosage can be minute, and its effectsimultaneously monitored, the possibility of over-dosage can besignificantly decreased. As an example, a diabetic person could use amedical monitoring device with an actuator. The medical monitoringdevice senses a blood sugar level of the diabetic person, and introduces(e.g., injects) a controlled amount of insulin into the diabeticperson's blood stream to stabilize it. The medical monitoring device canfurther determine the diabetic person's activity level and adjust theamount of insulin accordingly. In one embodiment, at least a portion ofthe medical monitoring device is attached to the person to be monitored(e.g., attached to the arm of the person, embedded within the person'sbody, etc.).

Alternatively, when the decision 812 determines that a physical actionis not to be induced, then the operation 814 is bypassed. Following theoperation 814 or its being bypassed, if desired, the notification andphysical response processing 800 can archive 816 status, notification oraction data such that subsequent analysis of the data can be performed.Also, the history of the medical condition and actions taken can bearchived for later review. Following the operation 816, the notificationand physical response processing 800 is complete and ends. Nevertheless,the notification and physical response processing 800 can continueperiodically, on-demand or as the status information is updated.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of requested notification processing 900according to one embodiment of the invention. The requested notificationprocessing 900 is, for example, performed by a server machine, such asthe monitoring server 110 illustrated in FIG. 1.

The requested notification processing 900 begins with a decision 902that determines whether a status request has been received. When thedecision 902 determines that a status request has not been received, therequested notification processing 900 awaits such a request. In otherwords, the requested notification processing 900 can be considered to beinvoked when a status request is received. A user (i.e., requestor)typically initiates the requested notification processing 900 whenstatus information is desired by making a status request (ornotification request). Typically, the user makes a status request by useof a client device associated with the user (i.e., requestor).

Once the decision 902 determines that a status request has beenreceived, then an identifier for a medical monitoring device isdetermined 904. The identifier serves to identify the particular medicalmonitoring device for which the status information is to be obtained.After the identifier is identified, status information for the medicalmonitoring device associated with the identifier is retrieved 906. Ifdesired, the requested notification processing 900 can further determinewhether the requestor for the status information is authorized toreceive the status information.

After the status information has been retrieved 906, a responseincluding at least a portion of the status information is formed 908. Inone embodiment, the response being formed 908 is in the format of anelectronic mail (email) message (including any text or graphical messagebeing electronically transmitted). For example, if the status requestwere in the form of an email message (including any text or graphicalmessage being electronically transmitted), the response could be a replyemail to the status request email message. In one implementation, theemail message is an instant message, namely a near real time textmessage. In other embodiments, the response being formed 908 can takevarious other formats. After the response has been formed 908, theresponse is transmitted 910 to the requestor. The transmission of theresponse can be over a wireless and/or a wired network. For example,when the format of the response is an email message, the response istypically sent to a network address or email address associated with therequestor that issued the status request. Following the operation 910,the requested notification processing 900 is complete and ends.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of email status processing 1000 according toone embodiment of the invention. The email status processing 1000 is,for example, performed by a server machine, such as the monitoringserver 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. The email status processing 1000 canbe considered a more detailed embodiment of the requested notificationprocessing 900 illustrated in FIG. 9.

The email status processing 1000 begins with a decision 1002 thatdetermines whether an email status request has been received 1002 from arequestor. When the decision 1002 determines that an email statusrequest has not been received, then the email status processing 1000awaits such a request. Once the decision 1002 determines that an emailstatus request has been received, then the email status request can beparsed 1004 to get a reference number and requestor information.

Next, a decision 1006 determines whether the requestor is authorized.Here, the determination of whether or not the requestor is authorizedcan be performed using some or all of the requestor information and thereference number for the medical monitoring device of interest. When thedecision 1006 determines that the requestor is not authorized, then aninformation unavailable message is sent 1008 to the requestor.

When the decision 1006 determines that the requestor is authorized, themedical monitoring device is determined 1010 based on the referencenumber. As an example, the reference number can be an identifier that isused by users to identify the medical monitoring device they aredesirous of tracking. Internally the system may use the reference numberor another identifier. The reference number may be a fixed number or are-assignable number that specifies a particular medical monitoringdevice. For example, the reference number can be a telephone number ornetwork address used by the medical monitoring device forcommunications.

After the medical monitoring device has been determined 1010, the statusinformation for the determined medical monitoring device is retrieved1012. In one embodiment, the status information is retrieved 1012 from adatabase that stores status information for a plurality of medicalmonitoring devices or the persons having the medical monitoring devicesaffixed thereto. The database is, for example, the tracking database 116illustrated in FIG. 1.

Next, a decision 1014 determines whether the requested response ispermitted. In other words, although the requestor is permitted to accessthe status information, the type (e.g., format or content) of responsethat is permitted to be supplied to the requestor could be limited.Hence, when the decision 1014 determines that the requested response isnot permitted, then a requested response unavailable message is sent1016 to the requestor. On the other hand, when the decision 1014determines that the requested response is permitted, then a responsemessage is produced and sent 1018 to the requestor. In one embodiment,the message can take different formats or content depending upon auser's configuration request, a requestor's authorization level, or thedestination for the response message. Following the operation 1018, aswell as following the operations 1008 and 1016, the email statusprocessing 1000 ends.

A web interface (or Graphical User Interface) can be made available tousers. The web interface can, among other things, assist a user withconfiguring notifications for themselves or others. One embodiment ofsuch a web interface is referred to as a notification setup screen. Aweb interface could also be used to allow a requestor to view requestedstatus information.

The position resolution can be enhanced through use of a communitylayout and/or localized profile information.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a monitoring system 1100 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The monitoring system 1100 can be used tomonitor medical conditions of beings, such as humans and/or pets(users). The monitoring system 1100 includes a plurality of mobiledevices 1102. These mobile devices 1102 are provided with, affixed to orproximate to users being tracked by the monitoring system 1100. Thesemobile devices 1102 can have GPS receivers that can receive GPS positioninformation from a GPS system 1103. The mobile devices 1102 also receivehealth information from sensors as noted above for medical monitoringdevices. The acquisition of such position or health information can beperformed on demand, periodically or on need. The mobile devices 1102communicate over wireless links with a wireless network 1104. Thewireless network 1104 then couples to a wired network 1106. A statusmanagement server 1108 is coupled to the wireless network 1106. Thestatus management server 1108 provides centralized storage of statusinformation (e.g., health information, location information and possiblyother information) for each of the mobile devices 1102 or its users in astatus database 1110. A map database 1112 is also coupled to the statusmanagement server 1108. The map database 1112 can directly connect tothe status management server 1108 or can reside elsewhere on the wirednetwork 1106. The status management server 1108 can interact with themap database 1112 to convert position information provided by the GPSinformation into map coordinates, street addresses, etc.

In addition, the object monitoring system 1100 also includes a communitylayout server 1114. The community layout server 1114 can be coupled tothe wired network 1106 or the wireless network 1104. In one embodiment,a community can be associated with a commercial building, a shoppingmall, a residential community and the like. The community layout server1114 interacts with a community layout database 1116 to resolvelocations, such as street addresses, cross streets or longitude andlatitude, into precise locations in a community. For example, theprecise locations can pertain to points of interest with respect to thecommunity. As an illustration, in the case of a commercial building,with five floors, the community layout database 1116 would convert theGPS information (plus any additional sensor information relevant tomaking the determination may also be provided by the mobile device 1102,such as altitude and direction) to obtain a community location or pointof interest. For example, using the GPS position information togetherwith other sensor information, the community layout server 1114 caninteract with the community layout database 1116 to precisely locate aparticular mobile device 1102 to a particular point of interest. Forexample, in the case of the commercial building with five floors, themobile device 1102 can be pinpointed to the third floor which pertainsto the corporation Acme, Inc. The point of interest or communityposition can then be sent from the community layout server 1114 throughthe wired network 1106 to the location management server 1108 which thenin turn stores the community position or point of interest in the statusdatabase 1110 as the position of the particular mobile device 1102.

Once the status database 1110 has the positions of the mobile devices1102, when subsequent position data is sent to the status managementserver 1108, these positions are suitably updated in the status database1110. Additionally, other of the mobile devices 1102 or a representativeclient machine 1118 coupled through an Internet Service Provider (ISP)1120 to the wired network 1106 can be permitted to access the status ofone or more of the mobile devices 1102. Assuming that the requestingparty is allowed access to status information, the request for suchinformation is processed by the status management server 1108. Whenpermission is granted, the status desired is retrieved from the statusdatabase 1110 and returned to either the requesting mobile devices 1102or the requesting client machine 1118.

In one embodiment, the client machine 1118 or a particular one of themobile devices 1102, or users thereof, can set up a private orsemi-private web page that is hosted by a server (e.g., the statusmanagement server 1108 or other server) on the wired network 1106. Then,the page can be customized to monitor the status of a number of themobile devices 1102 (namely, the persons affixed thereto). Hence,thereafter, the requestor need only access the customized web page toobtain the current status information for such mobile devices. With suchan embodiment, a web page could be provided to monitor one or morepersons. In another embodiment, a similar web page can be setup to allowa user to track the status of mobile devices that are affixed to, forexample, his elderly parents. This would allow the requestor (interestedperson) to easily monitor the status (e.g., medical information and/orlocation information) of, for example, his parents.

The monitoring system 1100 could also be augmented by wireless profiledevices 1122. These profile devices 1122 can wirelessly couple to themobile devices 1102 using the wireless network 1104. The profile devices1122 could be short range transmitters or transceivers. The profiledevices 1122 could store one or more profiles for a particular locationin which they reside.

Hence, the mobile device 1102 can wirelessly communicate with theprofile device 1122, if available, to acquire a profile pertaining toits location. For example, with the profile device 1122 placed in theoffice building of Acme, Inc., when the mobile device 1102 is in suchoffice building, the mobile device 1102 can acquire the profile from theprofile device 1122 that is proximate to the mobile device 1102. Theprofile can include the business name, its location, contact informationfor the business, etc. Thereafter, some or all of the profileinformation can be stored in the mobile device 1102 and/or forwarded tothe status management server 1108 or other server for storage. Hence,the location provided by the profile may be more exacting anddescriptive than the GPS position, such that the location of the mobiledevice 1102 can be better determined.

In some cases it may be useful to control or limit the wirelesscommunications with respect to the profile devices 1122 so that themobile devices 1102 do not inadvertently receive the wrong profile.Various techniques can be utilized to provide control over the wirelesscommunications. For example, the profile device 1122 may or may not usea directional antenna. As another example, the profile device 1122 couldalso control (e.g., limit) its transmission power so that its profileinformation can only be received by devices within a certain distance.

In still another embodiment, personalized medical monitoring can beprovided. For example, a user can monitor themselves or a user canmonitor another person as they desire. Such monitoring can be achievedindependent of a medical facility.

A representative scenario is as follows. A user acquires a status-awaremobile communication device, such as a medical monitoring device, andaffixes the mobile communication device to the person to be monitored.The user makes note of the identifier for the mobile communicationdevice and the person being monitor. Then, periodically or on-demand,the user can determine the status of the monitored person. In oneimplementation, the user (or a server on the user's behalf) sends amessage to the mobile communication device. The message can be a voiceor text message that simply requests the mobile communication device toget its present status. The mobile communication device then determinesstatus data being requested. The request can be for the health conditionof the person being monitored through use of sensors of the mobilecommunication device. The mobile communication device can determine itslocation, for example, by directly using a GPS receiver or indirectlyvia a hub device having GPS awareness. Further, battery lifetime can beconserved using the intelligent GPS information acquisition approachesas, for example, noted in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/375,998. The mobile communication device then replies back (e.g.,through voice or text message) to the user (or server) to inform of thestatus of the monitored person. The user can, for example, call or pagethe mobile communication device and get the status data in a replymessage. Alternatively, the user needs only access a server to retrievethe status data it holds for the person being monitored. The server canalso automatically monitor these mobile communication devices and notifyor alert users (e.g., the monitored person or interested party) whenproblems or dangerous conditions are identified. Besides healthconditions and location, reply messages could also provide otherinformation back such as velocity, temperature, humidity, pressure,forces or stresses.

In one embodiment, the mobile device (mobile communication device) caninclude a solar panel. The solar panel can provide electrical power forthe mobile device. The solar panel can thus charge a battery used topower the mobile device and/or itself power the mobile device. When themobile device is affixed to a person to be monitored, the solar panelcan remain at least partially exposed to the outside environment so asto be able to receive light. The solar panel can be integrated with thehousing of the mobile device or can be separate and coupled to themobile device via one or more wires (e.g., a cable).

The present invention has described one or more GPS devices as toidentify a location. However, the present invention is not limited tousing GPS devices. In certain situations, other wireless or mobiledevices can also serve as location-designating devices, such as devicesbased on GSM technologies, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technologies. Through thetechniques of triangulation, these devices can also designate alocation. Such triangulation techniques should be known to those skilledin the art.

Although the invention has been described above in the context ofmonitoring persons, the invention can likewise be used to monitoranimals (e.g., pets) or other living beings.

The above-described systems, devices, methods and processes can be usedtogether with other aspects of a monitoring system, including thevarious aspects described in: (i) U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/444,198, filed Jan. 30, 2003, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING, MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGINGAND USING STATUS INFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein byreference; (ii) U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/418,491,filed Oct. 15, 2002, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FORACQUIRING, PRESENTING, MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGING AND USING STATUSINFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; (iii)U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/404,645, filed Aug. 19, 2002,and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING,MONITORING, DELIVERING, MANAGING AND USING POSITION AND OTHERINFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference; and (iv)U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/375,998, filed Apr. 24, 2002,and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING, PRESENTING,MANAGING AND USING POSITION INFORMATION,” which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

The various embodiments, implementations and features of the inventionnoted above can be combined in various ways or used separately. Thoseskilled in the art will understand from the description that theinvention can be equally applied to or used in other various differentsettings with respect to various combinations, embodiments,implementations or features provided in the description herein.

The invention can be implemented in software, hardware or a combinationof hardware and software. The invention can also be embodied as computerreadable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readablemedium is any data storage device that can store data which canthereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computerreadable medium include read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs,magnetic tape, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves. Thecomputer readable medium can also be distributed over network-coupledcomputer systems so that the computer readable code is stored andexecuted in a distributed fashion.

The advantages of the invention are numerous. Different embodiments orimplementations may yield different advantages. One advantage of theinvention is that a person's health can be monitored with a portablemedical monitoring system. Another advantage of the invention is thatportable medical monitoring systems can be low cost and utilized withoutassistance of medical professionals or trained technicians. Stillanother advantage of the invention is that status information of aperson being monitored can be obtained by an interested party throughnotifications or through access to a website (e.g., monitoring server).Yet another advantage of the invention is that notifications,recommendations and/or actions can be initiated by examination oranalysis of the status information.

The many features and advantages of the present invention are apparentfrom the written description and, thus, it is intended by the appendedclaims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention.Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention tothe exact construction and operation as illustrated and described.Hence, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to asfalling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A health monitoring system, said healthmonitoring system supporting at least one medical monitoring device, themedical monitoring device being configured to be carried or worn by aperson to be monitored, the medial monitoring device being configured toobtain location information and health condition information pertainingto the person, said health monitoring system comprising: a health sensoroperatively connected to or within the medical monitoring device toacquire the health condition information pertaining to the person; and ahealth monitor operatively connected to or within the medical monitoringdevice, said health monitor configured to receive and store the locationinformation and the health condition information, wherein, for themedical monitoring device, said health monitor is configured todetermine whether one or more electronic notifications are to be sent toat least one recipient based on at least a portion of the healthcondition information pertaining to the person and based on criteria forwhen the one or more electronic notifications are to be sent, whereinsaid health monitor is configured to initiate sending of the one or moreelectronic notifications to the at least one recipient when said healthmonitor determines that the one or more electronic notifications are tobe sent to at least one recipient based on at least a portion of thehealth condition information received and based on criteria for when theone or more electronic notifications are to be sent, and wherein saidhealth monitor is configured to provide a graphical user interface thatis accessed by at least one potential recipient to configure thecriteria for when the one or more electronic notifications are to besent to the at least one recipient.
 2. The health monitoring system asrecited in claim 1, wherein the criteria for when the one or moreelectronic notifications are to be sent are at least partially dependenton the location information pertaining to the person.
 3. The healthmonitoring system as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphical userinterface that is accessed by at least one potential recipient furtherpermits the at least one potential recipient to configure information asto where the one or more electronic notification for the at least onepotential recipient are to be sent.
 4. The health monitoring system asrecited in claim 1, wherein the one or more notifications are electronictext messages.
 5. The health monitoring system as recited in claim 1,wherein the one or more notifications are electronic audio and/orgraphical messages.
 6. The health monitoring system as recited in claim1, wherein the medical monitoring device comprises: a wirelesscommunication component configured to communicate over one or morenetworks; and a GPS component configured to acquire the locationinformation corresponding thereto.
 7. The health monitoring system asrecited in claim 6, wherein the wireless communication component and theGPS component and the health sensor are integrated into a singlepackage.
 8. The health monitoring system as recited in claim 6, whereinthe wireless communication component is provided in a first apparatus,wherein the GPS component and/or the health sensor as provided in asecond apparatus, and wherein the second apparatus is configured tocommunicate with the wireless communication component through a wirelesslocal network.
 9. The health monitoring system as recited in claim 1,wherein the medical monitoring device includes a capability to induce anaction to the person carrying or wearing the medical monitoring device,and wherein the health monitor is configured to determine when to inducean action to the person carrying or wearing the medical monitoringdevice based on at least a portion of the health condition informationreceived from the medical monitoring device and based on criteria forwhen an action is to be induced.
 10. The health monitoring system asrecited in claim 1, wherein medical monitoring device comprises a mobiletelephone.
 11. The health monitoring system as recited in claim 1,wherein the recipient is the person.